Chapter 149: It is good that you asked, I was only afraid you wouldn't

Inside the room, Ye Yuning sat before the office desk.

Qin Yike sat opposite her, with the livestream camera aimed squarely at Ye Yuning.

Taking a deep breath, Ye Yuning opened the document envelope handed to her by Shen Xian and pulled out the materials inside.

The first thing that came into view was a sheet of A4 paper containing talking points and scripts for handling the interview.

"Are you ready?" Qin Yike asked.

Ye Yuning nodded. The cameraman gave an "OK" gesture and then pressed the start button for the livestream.

"Hello, viewers and friends. I am Qin Yike, a reporter from Jingmedia Channel 1. We are now broadcasting our second live interview regarding the Nanzhou Special Breeding Farm," Qin Yike said.

"Returning to our previous topic, President Ye, regarding the rumors circulating online that you may have consumed wild red-capped geese, is this true?" Qin Yike asked.

Ye Yuning glanced down at the documents.

The scripted response written there read—first, under no circumstances admit to it; second, explain that what she mentioned in the video was due to the fact that farmed red-capped geese are identical to wild ones in both appearance and individual size!

"No, I have never eaten wild red-capped geese. However, I have seen wild ones, and the differences are not significant. What I referred to in the video was not their meat quality, but their appearance and individual build," Ye Yuning replied.

Qin Yike nodded, looking at Ye Yuning with a sharp gaze. "There is another speculation online: that your breeding farm might harbor some wild red-capped geese. Is there any way you can deny this?"

When Yu Tianshu saw this part, she almost burst out laughing.

This was precisely the effect she wanted.

As long as she could pin the existence of wild red-capped geese onto Ye Yuning's breeding farm—even if there was only one—it would completely ruin her.

Who would dare to buy them?

What if someone accidentally bought that single wild red-capped goose? Wouldn't they then become an accomplice to receiving stolen goods?

One might say this was a single rat dropping that ruined an entire pot of soup.

Glancing quickly at the A4 paper, Ye Yuning said righteously, "No such situation exists. Every single red-capped goose in our breeding farm is artificially bred!"

The barrage of comments fell silent.

Clearly, when it came to this issue, no viewer dared to take the risk.

"Is there any evidence to prove this?" Qin Yike asked.

Ye Yuning fell silent, keeping her head down as she flipped through the materials on the desk.

Zhou Wan and the others grew nervous as they watched the livestream.

"Why is she silent?"

"Could there really be wild red-capped geese in the breeding farm?"

"Oh dear, that was close! I was actually planning to buy one to try. I almost became an accomplice!"

Comments scrolled past continuously as viewers discussed the matter.

The world's protective measures and legislation regarding wild animals and plants were extremely thorough, so the public always maintained a cautious attitude toward such matters.

This was one of the reasons why red-capped geese were so difficult to sell.

If even ordinary citizens dared not try them casually, let alone down-feather merchants and meat-food vendors.

As for hotels, needless to say, they wouldn't touch them either.

While Ye Yuning flipped through the documents, Qin Yike stretched her neck, eager to see what exactly she was reading.

However, Ye Yuning closed the folder and said, "Reporter, why don't we conduct an on-site interview and take a look around?"

Qin Yike had precisely this in mind, so she nodded. "Very well, viewers and friends, next we will follow our camera deep into the special breeding farm to uncover the truth of what lies inside."

Filled with anticipation, the viewers followed Ye Yuning's lead.

Regaining her aura of a formidable career woman, Ye Yuning walked ahead and introduced the farm to the camera: "This is the entrance to the breeding farm. The initial construction cost was several million."

"This land is not classified as basic farmland; it is designated for facility agriculture. The approval process took me several months at the time. This is the land-use approval document from the provincial government," Ye Yuning said, pulling a red-headed official document from the envelope. "Therefore, my farm has no issue with illegal land occupation."

Such approval documents were publicly posted on the government's website and could be downloaded and printed by anyone.

This, too, had been prepared by Shen Xian.

Nodding, Qin Yike led the camera deeper into the farm.

The first facility to appear before them was the waste treatment plant.

Ye Yuning pulled another page of materials from the envelope: "These are the feces and sewage treatment facilities. The procurement cost for all this equipment at the time was over eight million. This is the water quality test report for the sewage outlet, which fully meets discharge standards."

"Look everyone, this is the discharge outlet," Ye Yuning said, pointing toward the terminal of the sewage treatment equipment, where a stream of clear water was flowing out.

This was also prepared by Shen Xian.

He had considered every single aspect, intending to resolve all vulnerabilities in one fell swoop today!

Meng Yanzhou and Chen Rumeng exchanged glances, a bad premonition rising in their hearts.

This Shen Xian was meticulous to a fault and thought of everything, cutting off any possible handles they could use.

As the camera advanced, the viewers finally caught sight of the legendary red-capped geese.

Their feathers were pristine white, each with a vibrant patch of red on the crown of its head. Some stood gracefully along the banks, while others paddled leisurely in the ponds.

"Are these the red-capped geese? They're so pretty!"

"They look like big geese!"

"Nonsense, these are much better-looking than regular geese!"

"Do you guys think any wild ones might have sneaked in among them?"

Many workers were busy at work, either feeding the geese or trimming their feathers. The trimmed feathers were carefully collected and stored in storage bags.

Such feathers had already piled up to fill an entire warehouse.

"Look everyone, these are the red-capped geese, and every single one of them is farmed," Ye Yuning said, gesturing toward the flock.

Qin Yike asked, "Then how can you prove that all these red-capped geese are artificially bred?"

Well asked.

They were waiting for that exact question.

Ye Yuning smiled faintly—a strong, confident smile entirely different from her previous timid demeanor.

"I feel like Yuning is radiating confidence right now," Ning Cai remarked.

Zhou Wan murmured in agreement, "Could it be that the things Shen Xian gave her are actually useful?"

"Follow me, everyone, and I will prove it to you!" Ye Yuning said.

She opened the gate of a fence, allowing Qin Yike and the cameraman to step inside. She first caught a red-capped goose and lifted its wings, which were bound with plastic zip-ties to prevent it from flying.

"Artificially bred red-capped geese have had their wing roots bound with zip-ties since they were chicks, depriving them of the ability to fly. Consequently, the muscles in their wings degenerate or even atrophy. Here, point the camera right here," Ye Yuning instructed, pointing to the base of the wings.

As she spoke, Ye Yuning retrieved five or six color-printed photographs from the document envelope. "Look at these photos, everyone. They were downloaded from a popular science website. The photographs show wild red-capped geese. As you can clearly see, because wild red-capped geese fly frequently, the muscles on their backs and wings are exceptionally well-developed."

Sure enough, looking closely at the photos, one could see very distinct muscle groups and protrusions right at the base of their wings!

"This is the fundamental difference between wild and farmed ones," Ye Yuning explained.

"Holy cow, there's even this detail? Today I learned!"

"Thanks for the science lesson."

The viewers flooded the chat with comments.

Yu Tianshu also felt a bad premonition stirring in her heart. Was the situation about to be completely reversed?

However, Qin Yike's next question almost made her burst into laughter: "However, there are thousands of geese in this farm. How can you prove that one or two wild ones haven't managed to mix in? It's entirely possible that some wild geese were flying by, noticed so many of their own kind here, and dropped down into the farm, only to be captured by you guys."

"The reporter makes a valid point!"

"Right, I agree with the reporter's view!"

"Exactly, you can't rule out the possibility that some male wild geese saw so many female geese here, flew down to have a romantic encounter, and then got caught!"

The viewers in the livestreaming room debated animatedly.

At these words, Ning Cai and Zhou Wan felt their hearts sink.

That was a good question—they were just hoping someone would ask it.

Ye Yuning smiled faintly, then drew a thick stack of documents from the document envelope. "May I ask the cameraman to give me a close-up shot, please?"